Zoosemy
Encyclopedia
Zoosemy is a metaphor
for the way names of animals are used to denote and characterise human qualities and traits of the character. The term zoosemy was first used by Grzegorz A. Kleparski (Professor of University of Rzeszow /Poland/). He also noticed that the category MAMMALS
form the majority of the cases of zoosemy. It may be so since their close associations, familiarity and importance to humans. Other categories, like, for instance, INSECTS
, FISH
, or AMPHIBIANS
seem not to be as profound in the examples of zoosemic developments. Usually, the case of zoosemy goes in hand with the process of pejoration of meaning(a type of semantic change
), since names of animals when applied to human beings can express their disapproving :
Yet, certain animals can as well represent positive human characteristics or virtues, for instance, the person who is brave, bellicose and strong can be called a lion, a hard-working human is a bee or ant.
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
for the way names of animals are used to denote and characterise human qualities and traits of the character. The term zoosemy was first used by Grzegorz A. Kleparski (Professor of University of Rzeszow /Poland/). He also noticed that the category MAMMALS
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
form the majority of the cases of zoosemy. It may be so since their close associations, familiarity and importance to humans. Other categories, like, for instance, INSECTS
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
, FISH
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, or AMPHIBIANS
Amphibian
Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...
seem not to be as profound in the examples of zoosemic developments. Usually, the case of zoosemy goes in hand with the process of pejoration of meaning(a type of semantic change
Semantic change
Semantic change, also known as semantic shift or semantic progression describes the evolution of word usage — usually to the point that the modern meaning is radically different from the original usage. In diachronic linguistics, semantic change is a change in one of the meanings of a word...
), since names of animals when applied to human beings can express their disapproving :
- appearance (cow ‘a fat, or disagreeable woman’),
- manners (pig ‘an ugly, dirty or gluttonous person’)
- behaviour, character, morals (dog ‘contemptible, wretched man’; viper ‘a malicious, evil-minded person’; mule ‘an obstinate, stubborn person’; ass, ox ‘a fool’ or ostrich ‘a coward’; bitch ‘a spiteful, coarse woman’).
Yet, certain animals can as well represent positive human characteristics or virtues, for instance, the person who is brave, bellicose and strong can be called a lion, a hard-working human is a bee or ant.